ELIYAHU GURFINKEL, THE ANN ARBOR NEWSA copy of the Scholastic News magazine is placed into a time capsule at Dicken Elementary School in Ann Arbor on Thursday morning.

Earlier this week, Dicken Elementary fourth-graders put a magazine showing the major presidential candidates and a DVD of poetry into a time capsule the school is creating.

The capsule making is part of a weeklong celebration of the Ann Arbor elementary school's 50th anniversary.

"We are putting this DVD into the time capsule because it is special to our class," fourth-graders Rachel Wellings and Joseph Riesterer read over the public-address system in the school Thursday. "We decided to go with this because it was created by our student teacher and we want to have good memories for us and the people who find the time capsule."

Other items placed in the time capsule so far include a picture of an iPod, a picture of a desktop computer, a picture of a cell phone, a Webkinz stuffed animal and a Sponge Bob book.

ELIYAHU GURFINKEL, THE ANN ARBOR NEWSFourth-grader Sam Johnsonannounces to the whole school what he and his classmate, Nicole Owens, are about to place into a time capsule at Dicken Elementary School in Ann Arbor on Thursday morning.

Dicken was actually opened 51 years ago, at the same time as Ann Arbor's Wines Elementary School, but construction last year at the school delayed the celebration.
The week of activities will be topped off with a '50s dinner and sock hop Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Earlier in the day, there will be 50-yard dash kid races and a one-mile fun run/walk on the school's playgrounds, starting at 2 p.m.

In addition to building the time capsule, students have spent the week learning about the 1950s, said kindergarten teacher Sally Steward, who has been teaching at the school for 22 years and is one of the celebration's organizers.

The school is named for Carrie Dicken, who began her teaching career in Ann Arbor at Bach School in 1894 and later was a principal in district schools.

The school currently has about 375 students, but enrollment has varied over the years, Steward said.

In 1961, the school was so crowded that the district built a small house just off the building's site to house two classrooms. Students walked back and forth to eat lunch and attend assemblies.

The student body has also changed over the years, Steward said.

"It's much more multicultural now" than it used to be, she said.

Steward expects many alumni and former staff members to return Saturday to celebrate.

"There has always been a special feeling here, a close-knit family," she said.